This invention relates to the control of various appliances such as televisions, VCR's, stereos and the like, and more particularly, to a programmer having a voice recognition capability. The programmer is a universal programmer usable with any appliance. In one embodiment, the programmer is a remote unit. In a second embodiment, the programmer is built into the appliance.
Remote control units by which someone can command operations of an appliance from a distance are well-known in the art. Probably the most well-known type of programmer is the infrared unit used to remotely control televisions and VCR's. By pointing the end of the unit in which the infrared transmitter is housed at a window on the television set or VCR behind which an infrared receiver is located, an infrared signal is transmitted from the programmer to the appliance. This signal is modulated in accordance with the control buttons or switches manipulated by the user to turn the appliance on or off, change channels, raise or lower the volume, record a program, play it back, etc. Use of the programmer requires that the user grasp or hold the unit and point in the direction of the appliance. Oftentimes this requires the user to set aside something (the paper, a book, food or drink) in order to use the programmer. This causes the user unnecessary inconvenience. In addition, programmers are sometimes fitted in a bracket and locked in place so they cannot be misplaced or stolen. This is how programmers placed in hotel or motel rooms are often kept. Again, use of such a programmer is inconvenient unless the user is sitting or lying right next to the piece of furniture where the programmer is located.
Until recently, it had been necessary to have a separate programmer for each appliance which a user operated. That is, the user had one unit to turn the television on, and another to turn on the VCR and play a tape viewed on the television. Now, "universal type" programmers, also using infrared, have been introduced. These new devices are asserted to be able to control a number of separate appliances using only the one unit.
Regardless, it is a drawback of current programmers that whoever has control of the unit has control of the appliance. Thus, a youth with access of a programmer can switch television channels to one which his parents may not want him to watch, play a video which his parents consider inappropriate, turn up the volume to too loud a level, switch a channel being recorded from one which someone else has set to be recorded, and so forth. Or, someone may simply not want someone else, a guest, for example, to be able to control their television or VCR. It is a commonplace experience that when a unit is near someone, they almost always pick it up and use it.